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I hear from clients all the time who feel guilty about not paying back their credit card debt or falling behind on their mortgage. In my opinion, banks utilize a strategy of laying that guilt on so people pay good money on bad debts when they have a right not to. This story about the…

I often meet with clients who need help through bankruptcy, but have inherited a piece of real estate or other kind of property from a relative which the client now owns free and clear. They are concerned that they will lose this property if they file for bankruptcy. In these situations, North Carolina bankruptcy exemptions…

Many clients think they will lose their household furnishings, cars, houses, or other belongings if they file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In over 90 percent of the cases filed, no property is turned over to the trustee, and the client keeps it all. These are called “no-asset cases” because all of the client’s property is…

During an initial consultation, I am often asked what I think about debt consolidation companies and the services they provide. The short answer is that I think those services are generally a bad strategy. They damage someone’s credit similar to a bankruptcy filing, but the client doesn’t get the advantages provided by the bankruptcy court:…

One of the most effective ways a creditor can get paid is through wage garnishment. Generally, a creditor gets a court order which directs an employer to withhold a certain amount of their employee’s pay. The garnishment order is usually a very unpleasant surprise which arrives before payday. If a wage garnishment takes more from…

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding usually takes around 4 months. It takes time to prepare your case after you have returned all the necessary documentation – usually ten to fourteen days. After we have prepared your case and filed it, there is a meeting of the creditors (which generally only takes less than 10 minutes)…

Most people I meet with for initial consultations have questions about how a bankruptcy filing will affect their credit. My initial reaction is to check what damage has already been done to their credit score by the bad debts which are still on their books. Bankruptcy can stay on your credit report as a negative…

The Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor to “avoid” a judicial lien to the extent it impairs a debtor’s exemption in their property. For example, suppose you own a house in Buncombe County worth $150,000, and have a mortgage with a principal balance of $115,000. That means you have $35,000 in equity. If a credit card…

According to Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo: “Housing is going to remain dead in the water through the middle of [2011] … As foreclosures come back on the market, that will put downward pressure on prices.” There are several reasons housing in 2011 is predicted to be either flat or down. First,…

Yes, a bankruptcy filing can be made by one spouse without the other. Doing so means the non-filing spouse’s assets do not get examined by the trustee or court. It also means the non-filing spouse does not get the full protection of the automatic stay or the bankruptcy discharge. A key question in determining whether…